Oromia – CounterVortex https://countervortex.org Resisting Humanity's Downward Spiral Thu, 29 Feb 2024 18:48:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 https://countervortex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/newsflash_logo-1-300x300.png Oromia – CounterVortex https://countervortex.org 32 32 Ethiopia: ‘secret committee’ to suppress Oromo insurgency https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-secret-committee-to-suppress-oromo-insurgency/ https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-secret-committee-to-suppress-oromo-insurgency/#respond Thu, 29 Feb 2024 18:48:54 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=23314 published by Reuters reveals that a "secret committee" of high-ranking officials in Ethiopia has been overseeing a campaign of extra-judicial killings, illegal detentions and other human rights violations in an effort to eliminate the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA)insurgent group. The so-called Koree Nageenyaa (Security Committee in the Oromo language) has ordered "hundreds of arrests" and "dozens of killings" of any persons suspected of involvement with the OLA, as well as a "massacre of 14 shepherds in Oromia in 2021 that the government has previously blamed on OLA fighters." The Koree Nageenyaa is reportedly headed by Prime Minister Abiy’s former chief of staff and current president of the Oromia region, Shimelis Abdisa. (Map: Political Geography Now)]]> An investigation published by Reuters on Feb. 23 reveals that a “secret committee” of high-ranking officials in Ethiopia has been overseeing a campaign of extra-judicial killings, illegal detentions and other human rights violations in an effort to eliminate the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) insurgent group. The so-called Koree Nageenyaa (Security Committee in the Oromo language) has ordered “hundreds of arrests” and “dozens of killings” of any persons suspected of involvemtnt with the OLA, as well as a “massacre of 14 shepherds in Oromia in 2021 that the government has previously blamed on OLA fighters.” The Koree Nageenyaa is reportedly headed by Prime Minister Abiy’s former chief of staff and current president of the Oromia region, Shimelis Abdisa.

From Jurist, Feb. 25. Used with permission.

Map: Political Geography Now

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-secret-committee-to-suppress-oromo-insurgency/feed/ 0 Ethiopian regions battle starvation https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopian-regions-battle-starvation/ https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopian-regions-battle-starvation/#respond Fri, 09 Feb 2024 18:52:42 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=23278 died of starvation in Ethiopia's Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, according to the national ombudsman. This is a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body—the government normally dismisses famine warnings as "politicking." Despite the lifting of a nationwide food aid freeze imposed by USAID and the World Food Program over large-scale government-linked food thefts, just 14% of 3.2 million people targeted for food relief in Tigray received rations last month. There have reportedly been technical problems over fitting GPS trackers to food trucks and putting QR codes on ration cards. A lack of money is also an issue: the UN called on donors last month to urgently ramp up funding to avoid a catastrophe in Tigray, Amhara, Afar, Oromia, and southern Ethiopia, where some 4 million people need immediate food aid. (Map via EthioVisit)]]> Nearly 400 people have died of starvation in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, according to the national ombudsman. It’s a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body—the government normally dismisses famine warnings as “politicking.” Despite the lifting in November of a nationwide food aid freeze imposed by USAID and the World Food Program over large-scale government-run food thefts, just 14% of 3.2 million people targeted for food relief in Tigray received rations last month. There have reportedly been technical problems over fitting GPS trackers to food trucks and putting QR codes on ration cards. A lack of money is also an issue: the UN called on donors last month to urgently ramp up funding to avoid a catastrophe in the coming few months in Tigray, Amhara, Afar, Oromia, and southern Ethiopia, where around 4 million people need immediate food aid.

From The New Humanitarian, Feb. 4

Map via EthioVisit

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopian-regions-battle-starvation/feed/ 0 Ethiopia: peace talks with Oromo rebels https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-peace-talks-with-oromo-rebels/ https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-peace-talks-with-oromo-rebels/#respond Fri, 12 May 2023 19:28:06 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=22619 opened on Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar. The confidence-building discussions, mediated by Kenya and Norway, are aimed at paving the way for future negotiations to end the five-year conflict. The OLA, labelled a "terrorist organization" by Addis Ababa, says it's fighting for greater autonomy for the Oromo people, Ethiopia's biggest but historically marginalized ethnic group. Violence has surged in Oromia following a peace deal in November that ended the war in northern Tigray. The OLA is accused of targeting ethnic Amharas who live in Oromia, while militias from the Amhara region—which borders Oromia—have killed Oromo civilians. (Photo via Addis Standard)]]> Preliminary peace talks between Ethiopia’s federal government and the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) have opened on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar. The confidence-building discussions, mediated by Kenya and Norway, are aimed at paving the way for future negotiations to end the five-year conflict. There have been few details on the dialogue, but the OLA said it welcomed a peaceful resolution to the violence in Oromia, which has included civilian massacres and indiscriminate government crackdowns. The OLA, labelled a “terrorist organization” by Addis Ababa, says it’s fighting for greater autonomy for the Oromo people, Ethiopia’s biggest but historically marginalized ethnic group. Violence has surged in Oromia following a peace deal in November that ended the war in northern Tigray. The OLA is accused of targeting ethnic Amharas who live in Oromia, while militias from the Amhara region—which borders Oromia—have killed Oromo civilians.

From The New Humanitarian, April 28

Photo via Addis Standard

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-peace-talks-with-oromo-rebels/feed/ 0 Ethiopia: violence ebbs in Tigray, flares in Oromia https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-violence-ebbs-in-tigray-flares-in-oromia/ https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-violence-ebbs-in-tigray-flares-in-oromia/#respond Sat, 14 Jan 2023 00:12:59 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=22405 warned in a report last month. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been uprooted and essential services are not functioning in some conflict-affected areas. (Map via EthioVisit)]]> The war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region has cooled down since the signing of a peace deal in November. But a separate conflict is intensifying further south, in Oromia, where civilians are suffering as anti-government rebels step up attacks. Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) guerillas were previously confined to the fringes of western and southern Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region. But analysts say the Tigray war created a security vacuum that has helped the OLA expand its long-running insurgency. The security situation is now “fast deteriorating,” the UN’s aid coordination agency, OCHA, warned in a report last month. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been uprooted and essential services are not functioning in some conflict-affected areas.

The OLA feeds off grievances among the Oromo, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group. They account for around 40% of the population but claim a history of oppression. Resentment has festered futher under current Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is himself an Oromo.

The government has responded to the rebellion with a counterinsurgency offensive. The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has documented extrajudicial killings by government troops.

Ethnically based massacres are also increasing. The OLA is accused of targeting Amharas who live in Oromia, while ethnic militias from the Amhara region—which borders Oromia—have killed Oromo civilians. Many hundreds, if not thousands, have died.

Frustrated at the situation, Oromo lawmakers from Abiy’s ruling Prosperity Party wrote a letter last month to the prime minister’s office and the speaker of the national parliament, demanding a peace deal similar to the one in Tigray.

— Fred Harter for The New Humanitarian, Jan. 12. (Condensed)

Map via EthioVisit

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-violence-ebbs-in-tigray-flares-in-oromia/feed/ 0 Massacres escalate in Ethiopia’s Oromia state https://countervortex.org/blog/massacres-escalate-in-ethiopias-oromia-state/ https://countervortex.org/blog/massacres-escalate-in-ethiopias-oromia-state/#respond Wed, 22 Jun 2022 17:36:07 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=21912 Ethiopia Insight)]]> More than 200 civilians were killed June 18 at the village of Tole Kebele in the West Wollega zone of Ethiopia’s Oromia regional state. The massacre, which targeted members of the Amhara ethnicity, is being blamed by authorities on the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Amhara militias in the region have been cooperating with the official security forces in counterinsurgency operations against the OLA, resulting in reprisal attacks on villages. However, OLA commander Kumsa Dirriba denies that his forces carry out attacks on civilians, claiming that the national army is “solely responsible” for the killings of Amhara civilians in Oromia. Whatever the truth of the matter may be, the dynamic is spreading into neighboring Gambella regional state, which has seen heavy fighting in recent days between the army and joint rebel forces of the OLA and Gambella Liberation Front (GLF), with dozens of civilians among the slain. (Addis Standard, NYT, BBC News, Ethiopia Insight, Ethiopia Insight)

The OLA, referred to by the government as “OLF-Shene,” is remnant faction of the disarmed Oromo Liberation Front which has continued to wage an insurgency in rejection of a 2018 peace deal.

Photo: Ethiopia Insight

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/massacres-escalate-in-ethiopias-oromia-state/feed/ 0 ‘Crimes against humanity’ seen in Tigray conflict https://countervortex.org/blog/crimes-against-humanity-seen-in-tigray-conflict/ https://countervortex.org/blog/crimes-against-humanity-seen-in-tigray-conflict/#comments Thu, 11 Nov 2021 04:56:40 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=21185 EHRC) and the UN Human Rights Office has found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that all parties to the conflict in Tigray have, to varying degrees, committed violations of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, some of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. In its report, the Joint Investigation Team details violations and abuses including unlawful killings and extra-judicial executions, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced displacement of civilians. (Map: Political Geography Now)]]> A joint investigation by the independent Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the UN Human Rights Office has found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that all parties to the conflict in Tigray have, to varying degrees, committed violations of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, some of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a report published Nov. 3, the Joint Investigation Team details violations and abuses including unlawful killings and extra-judicial executions, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced displacement of civilians.

The report covers the period starting in November 2020, when the armed conflict broke out between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), the Eritrean Defense Force (EDF), the Amhara Special Forces (ASF), the Amhara Fano and other militias on one side, and the Tigray Special Forces (TSF), Tigrayan militia and other allied groups on the other. The period studied ended in June 2021, when the Ethiopian government declared a unilateral ceasefire. (Jurist)

The ceasefire, however, has broken down, and the TSF and allied forces are now approaching the capital, Addis Ababa. The central government has called on civilians and military veterans in the capital to join what it now calls an “existential war.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement called on the Tigrayan and allied forces to “immediately stop the current advance towards Addis Ababa.”

In a meeting in Washington DC on Nov. 5, a new rebel coalition was announced, the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist & Confederalist Forces, bringing together several armed organizations “fighting against the genocidal regime in Ethiopia.” The nine constituent groups are the TSF (armed wing of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front-TPLF), the Oromo Liberation Army, the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front, the Agaw Democratic Movement, the Benishangul People’s Liberation Movement, the Gambella People’s Liberation Army, the Global Kimant People’s Rights & Justice Movement, the Sidama National Liberation Front, and the Somali State Resistance. (CNN, AP, Bansoro)

Map: Political Geography Now

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/crimes-against-humanity-seen-in-tigray-conflict/feed/ 3 Ethiopia: conflict widens on multiple fronts https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-conflict-widens-on-multiple-fronts/ https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-conflict-widens-on-multiple-fronts/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2021 19:17:01 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=20893 cutting off a major highway to Kenya—a move that could disrupt trade with the largest economy in East Africa. Having announced a pact with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the OLA claims it is advancing on the western and southern fronts of Oromia region, and holds parts of the southern Borena zone bordering Kenya. Meanwhile, as the humanitarian crisis deepens and Tigrayan rebels push on into Amhara and Afar regions, there has been a relaunch of diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting. Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok—rebuffed once by Addis Ababa—said he is still willing to mediate. Sudan, however, has its own dispute with Ethiopia over the contested al-Fashaga border region—an issue Khartoum reiterated is non-negotiable. (Map via Wikipedia)]]> Despite hopes for a ceasefire in Tigray region last month, the Ethiopian conflict is expanding. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the main rebel group in the country’s largest region, Oromia, warned on Aug. 14 that it is close to cutting off a major highway to Kenya—a move that could disrupt trade with the largest economy in East Africa. Having announced a pact with the government’s arch-adversary, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the OLA claims it is advancing on the western and southern fronts of Oromia region, and holds parts of the southern Borena zone bordering Kenya. Meanwhile, as the humanitarian crisis deepens and Tigrayan rebels push on into Amhara and Afar regions, there has been a relaunch of diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting. US special envoy Jeffrey Feltman arrived in Ethiopia last weekend, and Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok—rebuffed once by Addis Ababa—said he is still willing to mediate. Sudan, however, has its own dispute with Ethiopia over the contested al-Fashaga border region—an issue Khartoum reiterated is non-negotiable.

From The New Humanitarian, Aug. 20

The Grand Fashaga, in Sudan’s breadbasket Gedaref state, is adjacent to Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and has seen an influx of refugees from the fighting across the border.

Map via Wikipedia

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-conflict-widens-on-multiple-fronts/feed/ 1 Ethiopia: fears of Tigray conflict spread https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-fears-of-tigray-conflict-spread/ https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-fears-of-tigray-conflict-spread/#respond Fri, 16 Jul 2021 20:03:36 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=20751 reneged on a unilateral ceasefire. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had pulled federal troops out of the northern region amid a string of battlefield losses to the rebel Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). But he reversed course as the TDF launched a fresh offensive to recapture western lands annexed by neighboring Amhara region during the eight-month conflict. Amhara officials assert that the lands belong to their region, and are calling up a militia force, risking a widening ethnic conflict. Also entering the fray are forces from Oromia (Abiy's home region), Sidama, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities & Peoples (SNNP) region. Escalation now seems inevitable in a war that has already left hundreds of thousands facing famine. (Map via EthioVisit)]]> The war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region appears to have entered a dangerous new phase, as Addis Ababa reneged on a unilateral ceasefire July 14. Ethnic militias are now mobilizing from across Ethiopia. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed started to pulled federal troops out of the northern region last month amid a string of battlefield losses to the rebel Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). But he reversed course as the TDF launched a fresh offensive to recapture western lands annexed by neighboring Amhara region during the eight-month conflict. Amhara officials assert that the lands belong to their region, and are calling up a militia force, risking a widening ethnic conflict. Also entering the fray are forces from Oromia (Abiy’s home region), Sidama, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities & Peoples (SNNP) region. Escalation now seems inevitable in a war that has already left hundreds of thousands facing famine.

From The New Humanitarian, July 16

See our last post on the Tigray conflict.

Map via EthioVisit

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-fears-of-tigray-conflict-spread/feed/ 0 Ethiopia: Oromo rebels behind new ethnic massacre? https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-oromo-rebels-behind-new-ethnic-massacre/ https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-oromo-rebels-behind-new-ethnic-massacre/#respond Thu, 11 Mar 2021 22:56:00 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=20340 "neftegna"—meaning "rifleman" or "musketeer," a reference to armed settlers in Oromia under the Amhara-dominated Abyssinian monarchy. (Photo via Addis Standard)]]> At least 29 were killed, including women and children, when gunmen attacked a church at Debos Kebele, a village in Horo Guduru zone of Ethiopia’s Oromia regional state on March 5. Local residents were gathered in the church to celebrate the start of the two-month Lent fast by followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo rite. The massacre was the bloodiest in a wave of attacks on residents of the Amhara ethnicity in the region over the past months.  The National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) blames the attacks on the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), but also accuses the central government of complicity. NaMA said that at rallies in support of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the region, Amhara are stigmatized and referred to by the pejorative “neftegna“—meaning “rifleman” or “musketeer,” a reference to armed settlers in Oromia under the Amhara-dominated Abyssinian monarchy.

After a long insurgency, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) laid down arms and reorganized as a legal political party in 2018, when Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s first Oromo prime minister, came to power. But one OLF commander, Kumsa Diriba AKA “Jaal Maro,” has refused to honor the peace deal and remained in arms. His faction continues to carry out attacks in the name of the OLA, which had been the armed wing of the OLF.

The OLA issued a statement denying responsibility for the massacre at Horo Guduru, asserting: “[W]e do not target anyone based on ethnicity or religion… [T]he vast majority of our forces in Horo Guduru are Orthodox Christians themselves. Furthermore, as stated before, our troops face stiff penalties for killing civilians; there is no tolerance for such acts.”

The OLF, meanwhile, just announced that it has withdrawn from the upcoming election in Ethiopia, charging the Oromia regional government with raiding its offices and arresting its leaders, making it impossible to freely campaign. (Addis Standard, Addis Standard, Addis Standard, Borkena, Borkena, Satenaw, BBC News)

Photo via Addis Standard

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/ethiopia-oromo-rebels-behind-new-ethnic-massacre/feed/ 0 Renewed war in Ethiopia draws in Eritrea https://countervortex.org/blog/renewed-war-in-ethiopia-draws-in-eritrea/ https://countervortex.org/blog/renewed-war-in-ethiopia-draws-in-eritrea/#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2020 04:54:45 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=20007 conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray state seems set to escalate after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that a three-day ultimatum for local forces to surrender had expired, clearing the way for a government offensive on the regional capital Mekele. At least 20,000 refugees have fled to Sudan amid air-strikes and mounting reports of atrocities on both sides. Neighboring Eritrea has also apparently entered the conflict—ironically on the side of the Ethiopian government, long its bitter enemy. The state government of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) accuses Eritrea of sending tanks and thousands of troops over the border to support Ethiopian federal forces. Although this is denied by Eritrea, Tigray state forces have fired rockets into the Eritrean capital, Asmara. Mekele has also fired rockets at the airports in Bahir Dar and Gondar in Ethiopia's Amhara state, whose local forces have joined the conflict on the side of the central government. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)]]> The already horrific conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray state seems set to escalate after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced Nov. 17 that a three-day ultimatum for local forces to surrender had expired, clearing the way for a government offensive on the regional capital Mekele. At least 20,000 refugees have fled to Sudan amid air-strikes and mounting reports of atrocities on both sides. Neighboring Eritrea has also apparently entered the conflict—ironically on the side of the Ethiopian government, long its bitter enemy. The state government of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) accuses Eritrea of sending tanks and thousands of troops over the border to support Ethiopian federal forces. Although this is denied by Eritrea, Tigray state forces have fired rockets into the Eritrean capital, Asmara. Mekele has also fired rockets at the airports in Bahir Dar and Gondar in Ethiopia’s Amhara state, whose local forces have joined the conflict on the side of the central government. (CNN, UN News, Reuters, Jurist, Jurist, TNH, Horn Daily, Al Jazeera)

The reversal in Eritrea’s alignment has to do with the TPLF being removed from power as the de facto ruling party of Ethiopia in a 2018 shake-up of the coalition it had formerly led, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). That shake-up brought to power Abiy Ahmed, who is of the Oromo people—Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, but traditionally exlcuded from power. There are now disturbing reports of Tigrayans, the favored ethnicity under the TPLF, being targeted by the central government for persecution. Police reportedly visited an office of the UN World Food Program in Amhara region to request a list of ethnic Tigrayan staff members, raising fears of ethnically based sweeps. (Al Jazeera)

Map: Perry-Castañeda Library

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